European Retail Digest articles from June 2007

European Retail Digest archives from June 2007

Editorial.(Editorial)
June 22, 2007... The relationship between academic research and retail practice is inevitably an uneasy one. Practitioners often seek straightforward and no-nonsense insights and can sometimes be impatient with what they see as unnecessary complexity, ambiguity...

Changing behaviour: designing interventions with a better chance of succeeding.(Feature: Retail People)
June 22, 2007... It was John Wanamaker who said, "Half of my advertising is wasted, the trouble is I don't know which half". The same can be said for people development. Based on practical experience and the research of business professor, John Kotter and...

Recruiting from the UK graduate market.(Feature: Retail People)(Industry overview)
June 22, 2007... After months of twiddling its thumbs waiting for students to go ahead and get qualified, the graduate recruitment market for retail is about to shift into gear in a big way. This article sets the scene and underlines some key points for...

Case study: tackling the departmental culture in retail training.(Feature: Retail People)
June 22, 2007... Need a new pair of trainers? The sports department's on the second floor. Looking for that perfect birthday present? Try the gift department at the top of the escalator. Want to order an out-of-stock item? Customer services on the top floor....

Retailing in central and eastern Europe.(Regional Review: Central and Eastern Europe)
June 22, 2007... In this article, Euromonitor International examines for the European Retail Digest the main trends and developments in retailing in central and eastern Europe, covering the five key markets of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and...

Russian realities.(Regional Review: Central and Eastern Europe)
June 22, 2007... There seems to be obsessive press coverage on Russia reflecting latest reactions to the country's overt flexing of its petro-political muscle and new world status. While you cannot condone the continuing centralising of power and increasing...

Romanian retail: modernisation through globalisation.(Regional Review: Central and Eastern Europe)
June 22, 2007... For a few years now, Romania has been a hot spot on the retail map of the world. During the last ten years, 11 international chains entered a country almost devoid of any modern outlets. From among the newcomers, more than half debuted after...

Department store shopping behaviour in Estonia and Latvia: a comparative study.(Regional Review: Central and Eastern Europe)
June 22, 2007... The two fastest-growing retail markets in the European Union, in terms of per capita sales, are the Republics of Latvia and Estonia (BBN, 2007). Although in absolute terms these markets are relatively small, as their populations are just over...

Is the devil in the detail? Retail land use planning and the planning White Paper.(European Political Issues)
June 22, 2007... Planning is not a technical and value free activity (Tewdwr-Jones, 2002). There will always be conflicts of interest which must be resolved and some positions will be privileged over others. Retail planning in the last 40 years or so has...

Teen vision.(Retail News Analysis)
June 22, 2007... Introduction This is the third year running that we have polled our sample of 800 school children at Epsom & Ewell Comprehensive aged between 11-18. Questions covered a broad range of topics from money matters and career aspiration to...

Consumers as masters and slaves in the store: an examination of perceived control, emotions, and loyalty.(Retail News Analysis)
June 22, 2007... Introduction The concept 'the customer is king' has become widely accepted in many circles. It originated in the 1950s as a business concept encouraging the supplier to identify customer needs--and to adapt to those needs. Surprisingly,...

Enter the era of reverse psychology marketing.(Retail News Analysis)
June 22, 2007... Stores with no names, shuttered-down shop windows, firms that sedulously ignore what customers want, product items that are in limited availability. No--this is not a survey of an industry in distress nor evidence of abysmal customer service....

Covenant-lite: the global future for Alliance-Boots.(Retail News Analysis)(Company overview)
June 22, 2007... Given the current level of private-equity-based bidding in UK retail, and despite the recent peaking in the leveraged buy-out market, the fact that Alliance-Boots became a target was not a surprise. The bid from Pessina-KKR was... ...

Letter: Australia.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 22, 2007... Dear Reader By virtue of its small population, Australia does not often feature as one of the world's hot spots in terms of growth and retail innovation. However, recent times have seen an unprecedented level of change. Most of this change...

Letter: America.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
June 22, 2007... Dear Reader Evaluating US Market Entry: Some helpful hints Historically, there have been heavy casualties as a result of international expansion between Europe and the USA, including well-publicized withdrawals from the US by a number...

Turning shoppers into advocates: the customer-focused enterprise.(Viewpoint)(Company overview)
June 22, 2007... While retailers are heeding the daily drumbeat of pundits on the importance of focusing on the customer experience, a gap remains between what retailers are delivering and what shoppers expect. Retailers can close this gap by systematically...

Sustainable distribution 2007: exploring distribution and its impact on the environment, IGD, London, June 2007.
June 22, 2007... Sustainability in distribution despite being an emerging issue attracted around 200 participants and speakers from leading retailing and logistics organisations. It was interesting to observe changes in the corporate approach to sustainability,...

BrandSimple: how the best brands keep it simple and succeed.
June 22, 2007... BrandSimple: how the best brands keep it simple and succeed by Allen P. Adamson, Palgrave Macmillan 2006, ISBN-10: 1-4039-7405-5 We all know the person at the party keen to impress by casually inserting the names of important people into...